When asked to name Lady Gaga’s style inspirations, you might list Madonna (although you wouldn’t say it to her face), Isabella Blow, Donatella Versace, or perhaps her local butcher Bill. But, now you can add our very own EastEnders star June Brown (who plays Dot Cotton/Branning) to the list.

On The Graham Norton Show this week, Gaga shares the sofa with June and confesses, ‘I am a really big fan of yours. You are so fabulously dressed. I am honoured to be sitting next to you’.

Now, Gaga is admittedly a bit of an odd fish – there’s the crawling around on all fours on Saturday night prime-time TV, the propensity to de-robe at any given moment and of course the exuberant dress sense (though, we agree, why not have a dress that looks like a perspex bubble bath if you can?)

However, the Gaga one may have hit upon something with her tribute to Walford’s lady of the laundrette because, even if she was talking about June, we’ve long thought her alter ego Dot is a real trendsetter. Her penchant for twin sets, pencil skirts and pearl necklaces is also particularly apt this season with designers from Simone Rocha to Dolce & Gabbana and Prada paying tribute to the lady-like silhouette.

Plus, with the fashion front row opting for low block heels in place of vertigo-inducing stilettos and mid-calf length pleated skirts instead of the sexy mini, there’s no doubt granny chic is having a moment.

The woman is a master at clashing prints. She loves a 70s retro pattern and she’s not afraid to mix it up with a little gingham. Jenna Lyons and Olivia Palermo learnt it all from Dot, you know.

Dot shows how to clash prints for work (Picture: BBC)

2. Occasion dressing is her forte

Give Dot an Albert Square wedding or funeral (much the same thing – both involve tears, Mitchell faamily fights and the axing of tedious characters) and she’s in her element. She’s the queen of the hatinator, particularly the pill box style, and a well placed faux-fur.

Dot shows how to do wedding dressing with aplomb – note the pill box and fur (Picture: BBC)

3. She knows the value of a classic overcoat

Bianca may run around in her metallic puffa and Alfie might persist with that awful, cheap looking leather trench that makes us feel a little queasy, but Dot rises above it all with her classic camel single-breasted coat. Accessorised with a vintage brooch, it brings an air of sophistication to the seething mass of polyster and pleather that is the EastEnders wardrobe department.

We all need a classic camel coat in our wardrobe for trips to the cafe (Picture: BBC)

4. She’s not afraid of girly pink

Some ladies of a certain age tend to shy away from the more girly shades like pink and prefer to fade away in beige and off-grey. Not Dot. She has always embraced the pink trend – she favours fuschia, in case you wondered.

Dot is pretty in pink (Picture: BBC)

5. She knows a statement necklace finishes any outfit

When we were still negotiating the minefield that was 90s sportswear – the shell suits and platform trainers – Dot was already sporting the fashion pack’s favourite trend du jour: the statement necklace. As Dot shows us time and time again, a simple strand of pearls or coloured stones will finish off any twin-set/knitted pencil skirt combo to perfection.

Dot shows how to finish our outfit with a statement necklace (Picture: BBC)

So, forget How to Look Good Naked and Mary’s Bottom Line. If you want to know what you should be wearing this season, just tune in to BBC1 at 8pm on Monday.